Elevating conveyor mechanism

ABSTRACT

An earth moving carryall having a tractor, an open top carrying body, a bucket elevating mechanism and a moldboard with a cutting edge. The bucket elevating mechanism is positioned behind the carrying body, and comprises a series of spaced buckets transversely affixed to a pair of endless chains hydraulically driven through up and down flights by a pair of drive sprockets. Each of the buckets has two wall components which fit together to form a bucket of V-shaped cross section, but are hinged to spread apart to an open position. The wall components have end flanges with edges which meet when the buckets are closed to define the bucket shapes. One of the wall components of each bucket is fastened to the endless chains and the end flanges of the other wall component of that bucket are shaped to provide a pair of support lugs for two laterally extending rollers. A pair of outboard rails flank the buckets on the upward flight of their travel, and these rails are positioned to provide rolling surfaces for the rollers and help bring the bucket closing pressure to bear on the wall components of the buckets. Positioned at the upper turn of the bucket elevating mechanism are a pair of curving rails adapted to receive the rollers and guide them in such a way as to cause the buckets to open as they round this turn. These curving rails feed the rollers to the under surfaces of a pair of down rails positioned to hold each bucket open during a portion of its downward flight on the bucket elevating mechanism. At the bottom of the mechanism are two idler wheels which receive the rollers from the down rails and guide them around the bottom turn of the mechanism while exerting bucket closing camming action thereon. These idler wheels feed the rollers to the outboard rails, at which point the buckets are closed. The buckets pick up earth at the bottom turn of the bucket elevating mechanism and dump this earth into the carrying body of the carryall after they round the top turn of the mechanism. A plate with a scraper edge is positioned to clean the open buckets of any sticky material left behind after they have dumped their loads.

United States Patent 1 Crum [ Apr. 23, 1974 ELEVATING CONVEYOR MECHANISM[76] lnventorz William N. Crum, 3511 E. 20th St.,

Highland, Calif. 92346 [22] Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.2 303,854

[52] U.S. Cl 37/4, 37/8, 198/145, 198/147, 37/69 [51] Int. Cl B60p 1/00[58] Field of Search 37/4, 8, 60, 69, 83, 84, 37/85, 89, D16. 2;198/140, 141, 143-145, 147-152, 229

[5 6] Referencesv Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 923,290 6/1909 Mundale37/89 X 2,153,037 4/1939 Chaffins 37/8 191,484 5/1877 Stafford 37/8915,963 3/1909 Hovland 37/83 867,047 9/1907 Junkin 37/85 3,133,3655/1964 Davis et al.. 198/141 X 1,922,970 8/1933 McKenny.... 198/141 X239,358 3/1881 .Wilson 198/141 1,434,601 11/1922 French.... 198/141740,499 10/1903 White 198/141 X 1,187,036 6/1916 Bunnell 37/DIG. 2

Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfre-y Assistant Examiner-Eugene l-l.Eickholt Attorney, Agent, or FirmJohn H. Crowe s7 ABSTRACT An earthmoving carryall having a tractor, an open top carry'ing body, a bucketelevating mechanism and a moldboard with a cutting edge. The bucketelevating mechanism is positioned behind the carrying body, andcomprises a series of spaced buckets transversely affixed to a pair ofendless chains hydraulically driven through up and down flights by apair of drive sprockets. Each of the buckets has two wall componentswhich fit together to form a bucket of V-shaped cross section, but arehinged to spread apart to an open position. The wall components have endflanges with edges which meet when the buckets are closed to define thebucket shapes. One of the wall components-of each bucket is fastened tothe endless chains and the end flanges of the other wall component ofthat bucket are shaped to provide a pair of support lugs for twolaterally extending rollers. A pair of outboard rails flank the bucketson the upward flight of their'travel, and these rails are positioned toprovide rolling surfaces for the rollers and help bring the bucketclosing pressure to bear on the wall components of the buckets.Positioned at the upper turn of the bucketelevating mechanism are a pairof curving rails adapted to receive the rollers and guide them in such away as to cause the buckets to open as they round this turn. Thesecurving rails feed the rollers to the under surfaces of a pair of downrails positioned to hold each bucket open during a portion of itsdownward flight on the bucket elevating mechanism. Atthe bottom of themechanism are two idler wheels which receive the rollers from the downrails and guide them around the bottom turn of the mechanism whileexerting bucket closing camming action thereon. These idler wheels feedthe rollers to the outboard rails, at which point the buckets areclosed. The buckets pick up earth at the bottom turn of the bucketelevating mechanism and dump this earth into the carrying body of thecarryall after they round the top turn of the mechanism. A plate with ascraper edge is positioned to clean the open buckets of any stickymaterial left behind after they have dumped their loads.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures MEN'I'EHAH: 2 3 mm;

SHEET 3 OF 3 ELEVATING CONVEYOR MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to bucket-type elevating conveyors, andmore particularly to such conveyors especially suitable for use in a newtype of elevating scraper having buckets which automatically open topermit them to be cleaned of sticky material after they dump theirloads.

Elevating scrapers of conventional type are pieces of heavy equipmentused by contractors for earth grading and leveling purposes. Such anelevating scraper typically has a tractor, a loading bowl with apivoting floor having a cutting edge at its forward end positionedbehind the tractor; an inclined elevator with flights of paddles whichtravel around a loop of sprocket-driven chains positioned at the openforward end of the loading bowl; and the necessary frame, rear wheels,gooseneck, draft tube, and other structural components serving tocomplete the elevating scraper assembly. The elevator with paddles ispositioned so that its lower turn brings the paddles into contact withthe earth being turned by the cutting edge of the floor of the bowl asthe elevating scraper moves ahead, so that each of the paddles picks upa load of this earth. The paddles then discharge their loads into thebowl of the elevating scraper. At first, before the bowl is very full,the paddles dump their loads quickly. As the bowl fills up, the paddlesmust carry their loads higher before dumping them. This results in moreand more paddles being loaded as the bowl fills up, so that more andmore power is required to run the elevator as the load in the bowlincreases. Where the earth being loaded is a sticky clay, or the like,the material becomes compacted by the paddles on the elevator, as aresult of which it builds up under the elevator assembly and actuallylifts the latter as the paddles travel over the compacted mass. Thisnaturally cuts down on the loading efficiency of the elevating scraper,as well as increasing the power requirements of the elevator.

It is, of course, necessary to tilt the floor of the bowl of theaforesaid elevating scraper downwardly soas to permit its cutting edgeto work into the ground and dig up material for transfer by the elevatorpaddles into the bowl. When the bowl is full, the material can beejected in any of various ways, depending upon the particular machineinvolved. All of these methods of dumping require combinations of movingparts which add to the operator's maintenance difficulties, and involveraising and lowering of the bowl with accompanying power requirements.

While presently conventional elevating scrapers serve their purposeafter a fashion, they have certain shortcomings. For example, stickymaterial cannotbe easily and efficiently handled by such scrapers forthe reasons given above. Moreover, no prior art elevating scraper iseffective for downhill travel or loading because any material in thebowl would tend to fall forwardly, out of the bowl. This is true becausethe front end of the bowl is enclosed onlyby the elevator. The pivotingfloor of such an elevating scraper must be shifted up or down duringvarious phases of use, and this results in a substantial power demand,particularly when the fully loaded bowl must be shifted. Anotherdisadvantage of the presently conventional elevating scraper is theincreasing elevator power requirement with increasing bowl loaddiscussed above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 1 have now, by the present invention, providedan elevating conveyor mechanism uniquely adapted for variousapplications, and particularly suitable f0 use as a component of anelevating scraper of new and unique design which functions in a moreefficient and effective manner than presently known elevating scrapers.The elevating conveyor mechanism (sometimes referred to herein as abucket elevating mechanism, bucket conveyor or bucket elevator) has aplurality of buckets dispsosed transversely across endless chain means,preferably two chains, so as to travel an inclined path upwardly withfull loads. Each of the buckets comprises two wall components hinged tofold between a V- shaped bucket configuration and an open, generallyflat configuration. The elevating conveyor mechanism has built-in meansfor automatically controlling the opening and closing of these bucketsso that the buckets are closed when they convey a load upwardly, open upas they round the upper turn of the endless chain means,remain openuntil they approach the bottom turn of said endless chain means, andclose prior to making this bottom turn This control is accomplished bymeans of a pair of flanking rollers outboard of each bucket, and asystem of guideway rails and idler wheels arranged to guide the rollersin such a way as to exert opening and closing force on the buckets,through properly timed and directed lever action thereon.

The wall components of each of the buckets have substantially flat innersurfaces, and are preferably provided with end flanges by means of whichthey can be folded into buckets of V-shaped cross section. A first oneof thesewall components is fastened flat across the conveyor chainmeans,while the other (second) component is hinged to the first so as torotate backwardly away from the trailing edgeof the latter under theinflu-.

a loading bowl; an elevating conveyor mechanism of the above-describedtype; a moldboard with a cutting edge; and wheel, frame, power and otherparts and components necessary to functioning of the scraper asdescribed below. The loading bowl is disposed to the rear of thetractor, and the elevating conveyor mechanism is mounted rearwardly ofthis bowl in such position as to permit its buckets to dump their loadsinto the bowl. Disposed below the upper turn of the elevating conveyoris a plate with a scraper edge positioned to scrape any adhering orsticky material from the open bucket wall components as they passdownwardly after having dumped their loads.

The aforesaid moldboard is mounted so that its cutting edge can beadjusted to cut into the earth behind the bucket conveyor assembly to adesired depth and provide a traveling wave of material just forward ofthe moldboard as the elevating scraper moves ahead. The position of theelevating conveyor mechanism is such that the closed buckets roundingthe bottom turn of the assembly come into the proper position to pick uploads of material from the traveling wave of earth ahead of themoldboard. The moldboard pushes the material into the bucket, whichnormally does little or no digging itself. The filled buckets proceedupwardly, at an inclined angle, to the topturn of the conveyormechanism, and as they make this turn they automatically open, then dumptheir loads into the elevating scraper bowl. After the loads are dumped,the inner surface of the wall components of each bucket pass close bythe aforesaid scraper blade, which substantially removes any materialclinging thereto.

The bowl of the elevating scraper is mounted to rotate on lateral pivotbearings to dump its load. It is thus never necessary to lower or raisethe bowl, empty or loaded, but only to rotate it, for loading or dumpingpurposes. The buckets on the elevating conveyor mechanism require thesame power throughout the loading process, since their loads are merelydumped into the load-carrying bowl, not pushed past previously-loadedmaterial as are the elevator paddles in a conventional elevatingscraper. Unlike any of its conventional counterparts, my novel elevatingscraper has no paddle elevator at the front of its bowl (its bucketconveyor loadsthe bowl from the rear), hence it can easily load ortravel downhill without danger of spillage. In fact, the machine worksmore efficiently when moving downhill because gravity acts in its favorthere. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the dumpingprocess is much simpler with my novel elevating scraper than with anyelevating scraper of the conventional prior art type, and there arefewer moving parts to require maintenance in my bowl dumping mechanism(essentially only the bowl itself) than in any of its prior artcounterparts.

It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide anelevating scraper with self-cleaning conveyor buckets which can beeffectively used at full efficiency in clay-bearing and other stickysoils.

It is another object of the invention to provide such an elevatingscraper which can load and travel downhill effectively without loss ofmaterial from its carrying bowl.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such an elevatingscraper capable of loading and dumping material without any necessity oflowering or raising its carrying bowl in the manner required for theloading and dumping of conventional elevating scrapers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such an elevatingscraper capable of loading material faster and with lower powerrequirements than is possible with any presently known elevatingscraper.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide such an elevatingscraper having a load dumping mechanism of simpler construction, andfewer parts, than any presently conventional elevating scraper.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of anelevating scraper of preferred form in accordance with this invention,an alternate position of a carrying bowl comprising one of its principalparts being shown in dashed lines for better illustrative effect. 1

FIG. 2 is a top view of the elevating scraper.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, in enlarged scale, of the elevatingscraper, taken along line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the scraper, taken along line4--4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Considering now the drawings ingreater detail, with emphasis first on FIGS. 1 and 2, there is showngenerally at S an elevating scraper of preferred design in accordancewith this invention. Elevating scraper S has a tractor 10, with thenecessary controls for operating hydraulic equipment, to be described,on the scraper; a carrying bowl 12; an elevating conveyor mechanism 16;a cleaner plate with a cleaning edge 62; a moldboard 18, with cuttingedge 20; a frame 22 which supports the carrying bowl and elevatingconveyor assembly; and a pair of rear wheels 24,24 mounted on an axle25. Frame 22 is connected with tractor 10 by means of a goose-neck 14,to which it is secured. Goose-neck 14 serves also as a conduit for fluidlines leading from the tractor to various hydraulic rams mounted on theelevating scraper to serve its power requirements.

The elevating coveyor mechanism 16 is the heart of the elevating scraperand comprises a pair of endless chains 26,26, mounted on a pair ofequally sized drive sprockets 28,28 spaced laterally on an axle 29, attheir upper ends, and a pair of equally sized idler sprockets 30,30spaced laterally on an axle 31, at their lower ends (see FIGS. 3 and 4,which best show these parts). Fastened transversely across the pair ofchains 26,26 are six elongate buckets 32. Buckets 32 are each formedfrom two wall components 34 and 36, fastened together along proximaledges by a pair of hinges 37,37 to permit their movement between first(closed) positions in which they form a bucket and second (open)positions in which they are swung widely apart. The wall component 34 ofeach bucket is fixedly secured to chains 26,26 so as to lie flatthereacross, by screw, nut and bracket fastening means, as indicatedgenerally at 39 in FIG. 4. Perpendicularly affixed to the ends of bucketwall members 34 and 36 are pairs of flanges 38, 38 and 40,40,respectively. These flanges have inner edges designed to meet in such away as to define the closing limits of wall component members 34 and 36so that those components form a bucket of V-shaped cross section. SeeFIG. 4, where the meeting inner edges of these flanges are shown at 43.The meeting flanges, additionally, serve as end enclosures for theclosed buckets.

Flanges 40,40 extend rearwardly from the wall member 36 to providemounting means for a pair of rollers 42,42 which extend laterallyoutwardly from the tip ends of the flange extensions. The flangeextensions for flanges 40 are shown at 41 on FIG. 4, and are shaped andsized to position the rollers 42 in such a way as to cause leveragedforce (from sources to be described) to bear on the bucket wallcomponents 36 so that the buckets 32 will open and close in properlytimed sequence during operation of the elevating scraper. The same is,of course, true for the extensions of flanges 40, at the opposite endsof the member 36 from flanges 40, in that they position rollers 42 toproperly assist rollers 42 in helping to open and close buckets 32during operation of the elevating scraper.

The elevating conveyor mechanism 16 slopes upwardly and to the right, asseen in FIGS. 1 and 4, and the endless chains 26,26 turn in theclockwise direction, again as seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, to provide anupflight leg on the upper side, and a downflight leg on the underside,of the mechanism. Disposed at the edges of the upflight face of theelevating conveyor mechanism are a pair of upwardly inclined rails 50,50(see FIGS. 2 and 3). These rails are positioned to provide rollingsurfaces for the rollers 42,42 when buckets 32 are being pulled upwardlyon the conveyor mechanism. It will be noted that the buckets are intheir closed positions during this upward flight, this being assured bythe leveraged force on wall components 36 resulting from thedownbeat-ing rolling contact of rollers 42,42 o'n railsv 50,50. As willshortly be explained, the buckets are loaded during their upwardmovement on elevating conveyor mechanism 16, and the force of gravitypulling on these loaded buckets, acting through the point of contactbetween rollers 42,42 and rails 50,50, serves to force the wallcomponents of the buckets tightly together as they move upwardly.

As the loaded buckets come to the upper turn of the elevating conveyormechanism, rollers 42,42 leave the guide rails 50,50, which end justshort of this turn, and swing clockwise, as seen in FIG. 2. As therollers make this swing, they come into contact with the inner surfacesof a pair of curving outer rails 52,52 and roll around these innersurfaces, which are disposed to swing wall components 36 away from wallcomponents 34 and cause the buckets toopen. As the rollers 42,42" ofeach bucket leave the curving rails 52,52, they roll onto the innersurfaces of a pair of straight down rails 53,53, properly positioned forthis purpose. The positional relationship between rollers 42,42 andrails 53,53 is such that each of the bucket wall components 36 is pulledaway from the wall component 34 to which it is hinged, to maintain thebuckets in open position as they traverse a portion of their downwardleg of travel on the elevating conveyor mechanism. The straight downrails 53,53 terminate short of a pair of idler wheels 54,54 positionedto receive the rollers 42,42 and cam them in such a way as to effectclosure of the buckets 32 as they round the lower turn of the elevatingconveyor mechanism. This is best illustrated in FIG.'4, which shows anopen bucket just prior to the time its rails, are employed at the bottomof the mechanism.

As the loaded buckets start the upward leg of their travel on theelevating conveyor mechanism, their rollers 42,42 are still in contactwith the wheels 54,54. These wheels then feed the rollers onto the guiderails 50,50. Each of the buckets isthen hauled to the top of theelevating conveyor mechanism and, as it makes the top turn, is urged toopen position in the abovedescribed manner. At the back of the top turnthe bucket dumps its load into the carrying bowl 12, which, as FIGS. 1and 4 best show, is properly positioned to receive the dumped material.

The elevating conveyor mechanism is supported in position by means offour swiveling arms, two on each side, connecting a pair of side braces.44,44 on the bucket conveyor with frame 22" and two reinforcing sidewalls 66,66 integral with and extending outwardly and forwardly from thecleaner plate 60 in the belowdescribed manner. These side walls arefixedly secured, at the top, to a pair of structural members 68,68forming a part of the frame assembly 22. These four swiveling armsinclude an upper and lower pair, the upper rollers 42,42 leave rails53,53, and the bucket ahead ofit which has already been cammed to closedposition by the wheels 54,54.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the elevating conveyor mechanism16 serves primarily to load graded earth into the carrying bowl 12 ofelevating scraper S. It thus functions only when the elevating scraperis performing a grading operation, at which time the moldboard 18, setto the proper depth of cut, is turning a wave of moving earth, notshown, just ahead of it. This wave of earth occupies the space betweenthe moldboard and the lower end of the elevating conveyor mechanism,best shown in FIG. 4. As each of the buckets 32 makes the bottom turn onthe elevating conveyor mechanism, it works its way into the wave ofearth ahead of the moldboard. As the bucket continues to move around thelower turn of the mechanism, the moldboard urges the earth into thebucket, so that by the time the bucket has completed this turn, and isstarting on the upward leg of its travel on the mechanism, it is loaded.The wheels 54,54 have sealed bearings, so that they will continue toturn when exposed to the earth, mud, etc., through which the bucketsmust travel when being loaded. The rollers 42,42 also have sealedbearings, but it is possible that these bearings might be prevented fromturning by dirt, gravel, or the like, during the bucket loading cyclesof pair being shown at 70,70 andthe lower one at 72,72 on the drawing(see FIGS. 1 and 4). The lower swiveling arms 72,72 rest on a pair ofsymmetrically disposed bosses extending outwardly from the side walls66,66; the boss for arm 72' being shown at 71 in FIG. 1. These bossesare positioned to support elevating conveyor mechanism 16 at the properelevation for normal grading operation of the elevating scraper. Theswiveling arms permit upward movement of the elevating conveyormechanism from its normal working position to give it sufficientflexibility to ride over rocks,-and similar obstacles, which it mightencounter in service. While the working position of the elevatingconveyor mechanism is normally such that its buckets clear the groundsurface, and thus do no actual digging, it is within the scope of theinvention to install this mechanism on an elevating scraper in such away that its buckets can be made to actually dig into the ground attheir lower turns.

It will be noted that the buckets of elevating conveyor mechanism 16travel around. the idler wheels 54,54 in the same direction as thedirection of rotation of the elevating scraper wheels. Thus, when therotational speed of these buckets around wheels 54,54 is made to exceedthe speed of the elevating scraper wheels, the buckets can actuallyassist in the propulsion of the elevating scraper on level ground,particularly if the elevating scraper is modified from its illustratedform. to permit the buckets to do some digging as they work. Amongadditional advantages in the use of my novel elevating conveyormechanism on an elevating scraper such as described herein, is theability of the mechanism to provide sufficient traction for extricationof the elevating scraper from soft ground in which it might otherwisebecome mired.

The cleaner plate is mounted with its cleaning edge 62 just ahead ofelevating conveyor mechanism 16, so that the cleaning edge is in closeproximity to the descending wall components of the buckets 32 in theiropen positions (see FIG. 4).-Thus, as each wall compo nent of thebuckets comes even with the cleaning edge 62 of the cleaner plate, anysticky material clinging to that component is scraped therefrom by thecleaning edge. As this material is scraped loose, it falls downwardlyinto the carrying bowl 12, since cleaner plate 60 is inclined to theright, as seen in FIG. 4, over the bottom of the carrying bowl. Byvirtue of this position, cleaner plate 60 serves as a rear closure forthe carrying bowl, when the bowl is in its loading position (shown insolid lines at least for the most part in FIG. 1). The width of thecleaner plate is slightly less than the length of buckets 32, and itsposition is centered with respect to the bucket wall components, toleave room for a pair of rollers 92,92 mounted near its uppoer cornerstoride against the exposed surfaces of the open bucket wall components.The purpose of these rollers is to hold the wall component 36 of each ofthe buckets sufficiently coplanar with its cooperating wall component 34to prevent jamming of the former on cleaning edge 62 of the cleanerplate. Without the presence of these rollers, the wall components 36would tend to flop outwardly, away from the conveyor chains 26,26, inthe manner illustrated by the two downwardly traveling buckets in FIG.4, to create a risk of such jamming. Cleaner plate 60 is fixedly securedin position through attachment to a pair of inturned flanges of the sidewalls 66,66. These side walls serve also as mounting bases for therollers 92,92, and as side enclosures of the rear portion of carryingbowl 12 in its normal loading position.

Moldboard 18 is essentially a cow dozer blade having a lower cuttingedge 20, preferably toothed, supported on frame 22 by means of a pair oflaterally spaced arms 76,76 pivotally secured at their forward ends to apair of downwardly depending brackets 78,78 affixed to the side members68,68 of frame 22, as shown, in FIGS. 1 and 4. Moldboard 18 isfitted'with a pair of dihedral guards 82,82 which extendupwardlytherefrom at its outer corners. The outer edges of the moldboard arespaced just ahead of the two rear wheels 24,24 of the elevating scraper,and the purpose of the corner guards is to prevent the escape of largerocks from the area in front of the moldboard onto the ground ahead ofthese wheels, since passage of even one of the wheels over such a rockwould cause the moldboard to rise and thereby disrupt the gradingoperation. Power control of the moldboard is accomplished through a pairof hydraulic cylinders 90,90 mounted between the swiveling arms 76,76and frame 22 of the elevating scraper S, as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.The moldboard slants upwardly to the rear to help prevent rocks fromjamming between it and the buckets during operation of the elevatingscraper.

The carrying bowl 12 is pivotally mounted on frame 22, by means of twojournals 86,86 mounted in pivot bearings (not shown) in structuralmembers 68,68 of the frame. The bowl is fitted with a pair of hydraulicrams 88,88 by means of which it can be swiveled in counterclockwisedirection, as seen in FIG. 1, for dumping purposes. The controls for thehydraulic rams, as well as for all other hydraulic systems on theelevating scraper, are located in the tractor, where the operator caneasily reach them. These hydraulic controls are of conventional type,with conventional lines and fittings of the sort familiar to thoseskilled in the art.

A hydraulic motor for the elevating conveyor mechanism is shown at 94 inthe drawings. When it is desirable to move the loaded elevating scraperto a dumping or spreading area, the elevating conveyor mechanism shouldbe stopped so as to leave a space between buckets at the bottom turn ofchains 26,26 to provide good clearance between the conveyor mechanismand the ground.

While the above description has emphasized the use of my uniqueelevating conveyor mechanism as part of an elevating scraper, I wish tomake it clear that this mechanism is not limited to this application,but can be employed for conveying material of any sort capable of suchconveyance anywhere the unique capacity of the mechanism suits it foruse. The elevating conveyor mechanism can, for example, be used to loada bottom opening dump truck, or the like, since it does not requiredownward adjustability of the vehicle being loaded as does the paddleelevator of a conventional elevating scraper. The mechanism is, ofcourse, particularly suitable for use in conveying materials having atendency to stick to the buckets of bucket-type conveyor systems.

While the novel elevating conveyor mechanism of this invention, andelevating scraper incorporating same, have been herein illustrated anddescribed in what are considered to be preferred embodiments, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that various departures may bemade therefrom within the scope of the invention. Certain of thesedepartures have already been mentioned, and others will occur to thoseskilled in the art in the light of present teachings. For example, asingle flat-top chain similar to the track of a caterpillar tractor, aconveyor belt, or the like, could be substituted for the two chains ofelevating conveyor mechanism 16, if desired. As another example, the endclosuresof the buckets on the elevating conveyor mechanism could beeliminated if some other means of limiting the closure of the bucketwall components to the desired extent to form the necessary buckets wereprovided.

In summary, the scope of the present invention extends to all variantforms thereof encompassed by the language of the following claims. Theterm endless chain, or the equivalent, as used in the claims, should bebroadly construed to include endless belt, or the equivalent, within itsmeaning.

I claim:

1. Elevating conveyor means of the endless chain type having endlesschain means adapted to repeatedly travel an upwardly inclined path,round a top turn, travel downwardly to a bottom turn, and round a bottomturn to start upwardly again, and a plurality of material conveyingbuckets affixed in spaced apart relationship to said endless chainmeans, each bucket being adapted to pick up a load of material at saidbottom turn, travel upwardly and around said top turn, drop its load,travel downwardly to the bottom turn, pick up another load to carryupwardly, and so on, each bucket comprising a pair of wall componentsfastened pivotally together to be movable between a closed position ofgenerally V-shaped cross section and an open position and including stopmeans to prevent closure of the wall components beyond said closedposition;

the elevating conveyor means having frame means and meansinterconnecting the frame means and the endless chain means so that thelatter is supported by the frame means in such a way as to per- .mit itto follow the foregoing sequence of movements during operation of saidelevating conveyor means; said elevating conveyor means includingautomatic bucket control means which holds each bucket closedwhen it istraveling upwardly, causes the bucket to open as it rounds said topturn, holds the bucket open as it approaches said bottom turn, andcauses the bucket to close prior to the time it picks up its load at thebottom turn, and including cleaning means which substantially removessticky material from the bucket wall components when they are in theopen position in each cycle of travel on said endless chain conveyormeans; said buckets being elongate, said stop means com-,

prising end flanges on the bucket wall components with edges which meetto fix the limit of closure of said wall components, said flangesserving, additionally, as end closures for said buckets in their closedpositions; and said wall components having substantially flat innersurfaces and being fastened pivotally together by hinge means in suchfashion as to be capable of opening to extreme positions in which saidinner surfaces are in substantially coplanar relationship; said endlesschain means comprising a pair of 25 sprocket chains mounted on a pair ofaxially aligned drive sprockets of equal size at said top turn and twoaxially aligned idler sprockets of equal size at said bottom turn; afirst one of the Wall components of each of said buckets being fixedlysecured to said sprocket chains in transverse relationship therewith,and the second of said wall components being hinged to the first wallcomponent with a longitudinal edge adjacent 'the trailing edge of thelatter to permit the second wall compo- 35 nent to swing backwardly awayfrom the first wall component for the opening of each bucket by saidautomatic bucket control means; the second wall component of each ofsaid buckets haivng a pair of flat, integral lugs extending backwardlyaway therefrom at each end and having a pair of outwardly extendingrollers mounted in axially aligned relationship on said lugs, saidelevating conveyor means including support and guidance means for saidrollers; said lugs, outwardly extending rollers and support and guidancemeans for the rollers being adapted and positioned to serve as saidautomatic bucket control means through forces created by contact betweensaid rollers and said support and guidance means when the elevatingconveyor is operating; said support and guidance means comprising a pairof parallel support rails positioned to provide rolling surfaces onwhich said rollers bear when the closed buckets are traveling upwardlyon said endless chain means, said support rails terminating, at theirupper ends, near the top turn of said endless chain means; a pair ofcurving rails positioned to receive said rollers on their inner surfacesafter the rollers leave said support rails and create opening forces onsaid buckets as the buckets round the top turn, said curving railsterminating at the approximate end of the top turn; a pair of straightdownrails positioned to receive, on their inner surfaces, the rollersfrom said curving rails and maintain forces on said buckets adapted tokeep them open, said downrails terminating short of the bottom turn ofsaid endless chain means; and a pair of idler wheels sized andpositioned to receive said rollers from said downrails and createclosing forces on said buckets by camming action before they round saidbottom turn, whereby the buckets are closed for loading as they comeround the bottom turn, the lower ends of said support rails beingpositioned to receive the loaded buckets from said idler wheels andmaintain forces on the buckets adapted to keep them closed as theytravel upwardly on said endless chain means.

2. Elevating conveyor means :in accordance with claim 1 in which saidcleaning means comprises a generally flat plate with a cleaning edge atthe top, positioned so that said cleaning edge is disposed sufficientlyclose to the substantially flat inner surfaces of the open bucket wallcomponents after the buckets dump their loads, to substantially cleanthese surfaces of any sticky material adhering thereto from said loadsas said wall components pass said edge.

3. Elevating conveyor means in accordance with claim 2 including a pairof bucket wall contacting rollers positioned to hold the second of saidwall components of each bucket substantially coplanar with the firstwall component of said bucket, as it passes the cleaning edge of saidgenerally flat plate, to prevent jamming of said bucket on said plate.

4. An elevating scraper comprising, incombination, a tractor; a loadcarrying bowl; elevating conveyor means in accordance with claim 3disposed generally to the rear of said carrying bowl and inclined insuch a way as to permit material from said buckets to fall downwardlyinto said bowl as the buckets come into their load dumping positions onsaid endless chain conveyor means; and a dozer blade situated behindsaid elevating conveyor means, said dozer blade having asso ciated meansfor adjusting the position of the cutting edge below ground level; i

said dozer blade serving to move a traveling wave of earth ahead of itwhen the elevating scraper is performing a grading operation and saidendless chain means of said elevating conveyor means being so positionedrelative to said dozer blade, and rotating in such direction, that thebucketsthereon travel around said bottom turn from a side nearer thefront to a side nearer the rear of the elevating scraper and move intosaid wave of earth with their open sides facing in their direction ofrotation, as they round said bottom turn; and are thereby loaded.

5. An elevating scraper in accordance with claim 4 includinginterengaging means on said frame means and said load carrying bowlforming pivot bearing con nections either side of the latter forrotatable support thereof, and including, also, associated means forpowbackwardly and upwardly from its normal position of a use whenobstacles are encountered to minimize the possibility of damage to thescraper at such times.

1. Elevating conveyor means of the endless chain type having endlesschain means adapted to repeatedly travel an upwardly inclined path,round a top turn, travel downwardly to a bottom turn, and round a bottomturn to start upwardly again, and a plurality of material conveyingbuckets affixed in spaced apart relationship to said endless chainmeans, each bucket being adapted to pick up a load of material at saidbottom turn, travel upwardly and around said top turn, drop its load,travel downwardly to the bottom turn, pick up another load to carryupwardly, and so on, each bucket comprising a pair of wall componentsfastened pivotally together to be movable between a closed position ofgenerally V-shaped cross section and an open position and including stopmeans to prevent closure of the wall components beyond said closedposition; the elevating conveyor means having frame means and meansinterconnecting the frame means and the endless chain means so that thelatter is supported by the frame means in such a way as to permit it tofollow the foregoing sequence of movements during operation of saidelevating conveyor means; said elevating conveyor means includingautomatic bucket control means which holds each bucket closed when it istraveling upwardly, causes the bucket to open as it rounds said topturn, holds the bucket open as it approaches said bottom turn, andcauses the bucket to close prior to the time it picks up its load at thebottom turn, and including cleaning means which substantially removessticky material from the bucket wall components when they are in theopen position in each cycle of travel on said endless chain conveyormeans; said buckets being elongate, said stop means comprising endflanges on the bucket wall components with edges which meet to fix thelimit of closure of said wall components, said flanges serving,additionally, as end closures for said buckets in their closedpositions; and said wall components having substantially flat innersurfaces and being fastened pivotally together by hinge means in suchfashion as to be capable of opening to extreme positions in which saidinner surfaces are in substantially coplanar relationship; said endlesschain means comprising a pair of sprocket chains mounted on a pair ofaxially aligned drive sprockets of equal size at said top turn and twoaxially aligned idler sprockets of equal size at said bottom turn; afirst one of the wall components of each of said buckets being fixedlysecured to said sprocket chains in transverse relationship therewith,and the second of said wall components being hinged to the first wallcomponent with a longitudinal edge adjacent the trailing edge of thelatter to permit the second wall component to swing backwardly away fromthe first wall component for the opening of each bucket by saidautomatic bucket control means; the second wall component of each ofsaid buckets haivng a pair of flat, integral lugs extending backwardlyaway therefrom at each end and having a pair of outwardly extendingrollers mounted in axially aligned relationship on said lugs, saidelevating conveyor means including support and guidance means for saidrollers; said lugs, outwardly extending rollers and support and guidancemeans for the rollers being adapted and positioned to serve as saidautomatic bucket control means through forces created by contact betweensaid rollers and said support and guidance means when the elevatingconveyor is operating; said support and guidance means comprising a pairof parallel support rails positioned to provide rolling surfaces onwhich said rollers bear when the closed buckets are traveling upwardlyon said endless chain means, said support rails terminating, at theirupper ends, near the top turn of said endless chain means; a pair ofcurving rails positioned to receive said rollers on their inner surfacesafter the rollers leave said support rails and create opening forces onsaid buckets as the buckets round the top turn, said curving railsterminating at the approximate end of the top turn; a pair of straightdownrails positioned to receive, on their inner surfaces, the rollersfrom said curving rails and maintain forces on said buckets adapted tokeep them open, said downrails terminating short of the bottom turn ofsaid endless chain means; and a pair of idler wheels sized andpositioned to receive said rollers from said downrails and createclosing forces on said buckets by camming action before they round saidbottom turn, whereby the buckets are closed for loading as they comeround the bottom turn, the lower ends of said support rails beingpositioned to receive the loaded buckets from said idler wheels andmaintain forces on the buckets adapted to keep them closed as theytravel upwardly on said endless chain means.
 2. Elevating conveyor meansin accordance with claim 1 in which said cleaning means comprises agenerally flat plate with a cleaning edge at the top, positioned so thatsaid cleaning edge is disposed sufficiently close to the substantiallyflat inner surfaces of the open bucket wall components after the bucketsdump their loads, to substantially clean these surfaces of any stickymaterial adhering thereto from said loads as said wall components passsaid edge.
 3. Elevating conveyor means in accordance with claim 2including a pair of bucket wall contacting rollers positioned to holdthe second of said wall components of each bucket substantially coplanarwith the first wall component of said bucket, as it passes the cleaningedge of said generally flat plate, to prevent jamming of said bucket onsaid plate.
 4. An elevating scraper comprising, in combination, atractor; a load carrying bowl; elevating conveyor means in accordancewith claim 3 disposed generally to the rear of said carrying bowl andinclined in such a way as to permit material from said buckets to falldownwardly into said bowl as the buckets come into their load dumpingpositions on said endless chain conveyor means; and a dozer bladesituated behind said elevating conveyor means, said dozer blade havingassociated means for adjusting the position of the cutting edge belowground level; said dozer blade serving to move a traveling wave of earthahead of it when the elevating scraper is performing a grading operationand said endless chain means of said elevatiNg conveyor means being sopositioned relative to said dozer blade, and rotating in such direction,that the buckets thereon travel around said bottom turn from a sidenearer the front to a side nearer the rear of the elevating scraper andmove into said wave of earth with their open sides facing in theirdirection of rotation, as they round said bottom turn, and are therebyloaded.
 5. An elevating scraper in accordance with claim 4 includinginterengaging means on said frame means and said load carrying bowlforming pivot bearing connections either side of the latter forrotatable support thereof, and including, also, associated means forpowering the load carrying bowl into swinging movement about the pivotbearing connections for load dumping purposes.
 6. An elevating scraperin accordance with claim 5 in which said means interconnecting the framemeans and the endless chain means comprises pivoted arms designed andpositioned to permit the latter to swing backwardly and upwardly fromits normal position of use when obstacles are encountered to minimizethe possibility of damage to the scraper at such times.